In our history lessons this week, we evaluated the contribution of King Alfred to the history of England and considered whether or not he deserved to have the word “Great” associated with him.  Some of Alfred’s achievements resulted from the courage and fortitude he showed as a warrior and leader in defeating the Vikings in battle and his wisdom in making peace with his enemies after the conflict.  Alfred also introduced laws that were fair and consistent, organised the running of the country and recognised the importance of education in society.  Some of us thought that he was truly a great king whilst others believed that several other monarchs have achieved just as much and also deserve a similarly flattering description.

Working with each other to generate vocabulary and ideas is an important part of the writing process in Upper Key Stage 2.  Here are Year 5 thinking about how to draft a description of the opening battle scene in Macbeth.  Not only are the children aiming to use some fantastic descriptive language to engage the reader but they are also encouraged to employ specific writing techniques such as similes, metaphors, alliteration, repetition for effect, hyperbole and personification.  “Ear piercing thunder cracked and rumbled as bolts of lightning slashed across the bleak night sky like mighty swords…” – sounds like a good start by someone.  

To complete our geography work on natural disasters, Year 5 have been constructing 3D models to show their understanding of the main parts of a volcano. We used our creative skills to produce cross-sections that show the location of the main vent, secondary vent, magma chamber and crater.   

Year 5 have shown some great thinking skills during the course of the week and there is so much work in so many learning journals that speaks volumes about the ability and attitude to learning of the children.  The Year 5 teachers have also been exceptionally impressed by the quality of the homework that has been completed over the past few weeks.  We received so many well organised and engaging letters that sought to persuade the teachers to give the children an end of term treat (we are still thinking about it) and there were a whole range of informative and well designed fact sheets about famous volcanoes from across the world.  Well done Year 5!  

We've had another busy week in Year 5! As you can see from the photo above, the children used trays to test the friction on a variety of surfaces and tested the resistance using a newton meter. We then deduced the materials that, when rubbed together, produced the greatest amount of friction. In English, we completed and edited our persuasive letter in the character of Shackleton ensuring we use formal language, connectives for cohesion and flattery with the purpose of convincing the recipient to join the expedition! We also covered viscosity in our Geography topic of volcanoes. By testing various liquids, we decided that more viscous lava creates stratovolcanoes whereas less viscous lava produces shield volcanoes.

We were delighted that the historian David Olusoga took the time to answer the questions put to him by Year 5 on his views about Black History Month and what more our country needs to do to make progress in creating a fairer society.  Our teachers were incredibly impressed with the challenging nature of our questions and his thought provoking answers.  We have started to look at our core text for this half term – Shackleton’s Journey – by identifying the challenging nature of Antarctica.  We thought about how, if we were Shackleton, we might persuade others to join us on such an intrepid journey of exploration.  Part of our homework this week is to practise the sketching skills we have been developing over the past half term so look out for the artists at work this weekend.